Fruit picker



A. T. RAMSDELL FRUIT PICKER Filed Sept. 14, 1922 Fig-4h Fig.5; Fig.6.

Patented Oct. 13, 1925.

FATiNT FRUIT mike.

T6 all it 00m Be that I, ALVAH T. RAMSDELL QJ citizen bf the UnitedStates; riding at Dover, ifi the county Of Streifidid and Stzit e of NewI-Itinpehire, hdveinvented cei'tziin new end usleful lmp'ri'ovenient sin Fruit Piekei s, of which the following is it speciet l The" inventipnto behel einztfter described relyteshtq finit piekergnnd mdre pa -10mlarly to meansjdi reeeiving the friiit as: it is picked and forconducting the fruit dOWn' to zt baslgetpr ether collecting receptaclefih ul iriiii y t i 'itt In carrying the intention into 'or'ctjaleffect, the enlhed iinnt ,thei'e'df illiistitted herein eeynpii'ses apble' eeffyin g' 2t severing deyiee31nd tube fin" cbndiibtifig thepicke'a frnjt iron 1 the severing deifli ce tlbiig ixd di t qthe 1 91 rdelivery info fi vct recepteble Thetn be is go cqnn eeted t6 the pole es'nto provide 9) pziir of pb'cliets, one to. Check the fl qit theco nree piits transit thibnghthe' tube, andl-fihepther cg xfeeeiire the fruitfrbm the eheeking ppcket; in' rea dines' fbr delivery Q 1 t e ol efiifig b pfb cle-r T Q-V tion' is... 1l h he 'nthi h ki g p li k lentqmitieelly glli'regt thie frn it witheiitt i ing attg tiqnbf the(jpeljter. hen it is dgirled the frnit t9 the receiving P k t which m ybefl'bihe end b t it, s ,mm'flyne eS's ry 1 f r ,th p pull -h beisnghflmpwa d hf y iiipulat ng het hed'in hpbc s as, t .d m e the ru etlef mh and Wh i ds f t0 Hi5 thQf i fi'Qifi the receiving Q'QQkfi b1 1 he.eib in ,.req ii 1 merely necessary for the operate-r to null the tu lghtly f rther: vupwi '."1 t er by a ipulatin thel'eg iv ng POCket 55$ 0lg heir t thfi QiI Q Thegh "pastel" of th 1 ventien will behest ujia stde yre eren Ito th fll w n dfii si ipidni o p 6 g d. form .of heinven in dise'osed in the accompanying drawing, erein: v t -F g' 1 i514. degleyetii l of fih irfi p v e shown herein agsemho 'theiinventiqll; v F g2.01 1 .dqs'czil u flpo he evfi g' dev ce ndet elgu defQr i ir tatingpresentation of th seye ipg devieet e s m of eiltllittd ep c edg 3011;an argd. tial'e a seetio'nal ta l en 11 59 Q1? F g-An; t

Fig. 4 is iii elvyw i1 gt a' portion of Hie 016 and the tube illstrating the ,pbitidn. sup brting;

of the ,t sfifl iit ha' bj'e'ii pull'ed u sinnewh'at t pass the fruitfi'd'm the clieckin'g pdeket to the end pbeket; Eind Fig; 6 is 5 viewill'l'l sitfiiting the position of the tube a fter'it has been furtherpulled u'p tq discharge the fihit' f'nd'in the end p e- 1 t ltefefringt6 the dhe'yvin'g, theiruit picker shown therein as one *g bd 'fofin Of.the invention, cpmprises pale 1 of an Chil- Ven'ie'nt length havingetthe pper end the'i egf t severing d'e'vie, in the present in st@; 1 e,c0m rising m fixed blade, 315113 a rnds'rizble' 1t)l"2tdl'e 5piirdtall'y nibfinted On a" bolt; 7 eg'n'i-id by the fitted." blade. Theind? able blade is urged t6 its" open pditien by aeoil spring 9 havingone endlconne'cted t6 the fixed blade an'fl its offpdit'e aridcoinnetted tb' the' inbv'able blzid. Projecting fngrn thei mqv'abl bladeis an arm" 11 con; nected to a rodlg which egi'tends do'wnwsirdgilqr'ig' the mneena isfc'dnnee ted' to anaematiigg ha ndlej rivet-ally,in'eunted On the pole. Thefrbd may be guidetl by eyes; 17 secu'ied tothepble; t 1 .l I .S iteb ..m@e e y e o i t ip- P rt-th sev ing efv 5nd 921' si te pree'entntidn theredftq the eteine of the fiuit to be picked.;Thislinens, in the "resent insta ef c in "rises fc'ii'khai ing arffiseenv V of'Wireldbp p'fov iding, a l s'hgp'd mouth 21 lead ng t6 theepflifig between th the severing deviee. The en ,pbr i i i bf h Wife. IQP ca Z' QddQWnWa QtQ Pr i e w xtend s'llbng tapered end portion ofthepble, and are jsefjuilfid theftq Serving, 24. Th fixed blfae of these xiei'ing det ie'e may be; ecufeid tp the wiie' f ps by ptii' qr b'e'n ed a 6 downward and rocking the arm 11 to cause the movable blade 5to rock toward the fixed blade and sever the stem.

Having described the severing device, next will be described the meansfor receiving the fruit from the severing device and for conducting itto a delivery point without bruising or causing other injury to thefruit.

This means, in the present instance of the invention, comprises an upperring 27 formed of wire and bent to present a pair of legs 29 which mayextend downward along the upper tapered portion of the pole inopposition to the legs 23 referred to, of the guiding device, and thelegs 29 may be secured to the pole by the wire serving 24 which servesto secure the legs 23 to the pole.

Stitched or otherwise secured to the ring 27 is a tube 31 of fabric orother suitable material. The tube depends downward from the ring 27 andextends along the pole closely adjacent thereto.

To provide a pocket 33 for checking the fruit, the tube may be caught upby an eye 35 connected to the pole by a bail or guide 37. The length ofthe'tube from its supporting ring 27 to the eye 35 is somewhat greaterthan the distance from the supporting ring to the lower end of the bail37. The consequence is that when the eye 35 gravitates downward to andrests on the lower end of the bail, the portion of the tube next to thepole is caught upward by the eye 35, causing the tube to sag and formthe pocket 33. As a result, when the fruit gravitates from the severingdevice downward through the tube, it will be caught and arrested by thepocket 33.

To'form the end or delivery pocket, the edge 39 of the tube adjacent tothe pole is fastened to the pole by a nail 41 or other suitable securingmeans. The length of the tube is somewhat greater than the distancebetween the nail 41 and the tube supporting ring 27. The consequence isthat the lower end of the tube is caught up, causing the lower endportion thereof to sag or bag downward and form a pocket 43 having anopening 45 normally facing the pole.

The tube may be further connected to the pole by an eye 47 carried by abail or guide 49 secured to the pole at a point between the tubesupporting ring and the bail 37 referred to.

In use, when the fruit is severed from its stem as described, the fruitwill drop through the ring 27 downward through the tube 31 until it ischecked and arrested by the pocket 33 which is intermediate the ring andthe end pocket 43, and preferably a short distance above the latter.

After the fruit has entered the checking pocket, the operator may graspthe tube with his hand at a point abovethe checking pocket, and onexerting a slight upward pull on the tube, the bag in the tube formingthe pocket 23 will be straightened as shown in Fig. 5, therebydischarging the fruit from the checking pocket into the end pocket.

When it is desired to deliver the fruit from the end pocket into thebasket or other collecting receptacle, the operator may exert a slightfurther upward pull on the tube, thereby straightening the same so as toremove the bag in the tube forming the pocket 43, as shown in Fig. 6,and allowing the fruit to be delivered from said pocket.

The distance between the checking and end pockets may be sufiicient toallow more than one article to be collected in the end pocket beforedischarging the same therefrom, but the distance between the two pocketsis so slight that the fruit in dropping from the upper to the lowerpocket will. not have suflicient impact to bruise or otherwise injurethe same.

After the tube has been pulled up to discharge the fruit from thechecking pocket to the end pocket, on release of the tube, it

will naturally gravitate downward again to form the checking pocketwhich will be in readiness to check the next fruit picked. Also, afterthe tube has been pulled up sufficiently to deliver the fruit from theend pocket, on release of the tube. it will naturally gravitate downwardand form the end pocket.

The pole may be held in both hands of the operator, and his upper handwhile supporting the pole may be employed to pull the tube upward tocontrol the discharge. of the fruit from the pockets as described.

While in the illustrated embodiment-of the invention. a severing devicehas been shown provided with relatively movable blades for cutting thestems of fruit, it will be understood that in some cases a severingdevice may be employed which may snap oif the fruit from its stem by atwisting or other manipulation of the device, and the tube described maybe employed for checking and delivering the fruit which is picked bysuch a device. 7

If it is desired to substitute a new tube 1 or an old one, this may bereadily accomplished by pulling the ring 27 upward, thereby wlthdrawingits legs 29 from the embrace of the wire serving 24, and then the legsof the ring of a new tube may be inserted in the serving.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the specificembodiment shown, and that various deviations may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A fruit picker comprising a pole, a device thereon for severing fruitfrom its having an opening at the upper end thereof for receiving thefruit from the severing device and an opening at the lower end of thetube for delivering the fruit, means to secure the inner edge of thelower end of the tube to the pole to hold the delivery openingsubstantially vertical and form a fruitreceiving and holding pocket, andmeans connected to the pole to catch up 'a portion of the tube at ashort dist-[nee above the lower end thereof to form a fruit checking andholding pocket, the latter being adapted to deliver fruit to thereceiving pocket on upward pull on the tube, and the receiving pocketbeing adapted to discharge fruit from the delivery opening on furtherupward pull on the tube.

2. A fruit picker comprising a pole, a device thereon for severing fruitfrom the stem an open-ended tube carried by the pole for receiving thefruit from the ering device and for conducting the same downward alongthe pole, fixed means ronnecting the pole side of the edge of the loweropen end of the tube to the pole at a distance from the upper end of thetube less than the length of the tube to provide a sag and form a fruitreceiving and holding pocket that is closed by the pole, and slidingmeans for catching up and securing a portion of the tube to the pole ata point intermediate the ends of the tube to form a fruit checking andholding pocket, said pockets being adapted to progressively deliver thefruit therefrom on application of an upward pull to the tube, permittedby said sliding means, until drawn taut against the pole by resistancefrom said fixed means.

3. A fruit picker comprising a pole, a severing device at the upper endthereof for separating the fruit from its tree, a wire loop guide forguiding a stem to the severing device and having legs extending alongthe upper end portion of the pole, a ring having legs extending alongthe upper end portion of the pole, wire serving for securing all of saidlegs to the pole, and a tube carried by the ring and extending downwardtherefrom along the pole for receiving the fruit from the severingdevice and for conducting the same downward to the lower end of thetube.

ALVAH T. RAMSDELL.

